Konnor Griffin spoke this morning here at Pirate City about a number of different topics, including his expectations and goals for spring training, as he attempts to make the Pirates' opening day roster as a 19-year-old phenom:
• Griffin said it helps knowing what to expect this spring after experiencing this a year ago and now having a full professional season: "I'm just kind of keeping the same as last year, come in here and be a sponge. Be around the veteran players. It's a great opportunity for my development to be around these guys. Just looking forward to getting better every single day.
• On making the team out of spring training: "I just try to be myself and be in the moment, be present, take it day by day, and just try to grow as a player. We still have a month, month and a half, until games actually start. So got a lot of time to grow and be prepared for whatever comes."
• On being compared to the likes of AlexRodriguez, BobbyWitt and MikeTrout: "It's super special, and those are great players, but the thing with me ... I haven't played a game at the major-league level. Those guys have had success at the highest level, and I'm still working my way toward that. So until I have the success they're having, I'm gonna continue to just stay who I am and try to work my way up to that. But when I get there, I'm gonna continue to do the same thing and try to grow every day. ... Until I'm in the Hall of Fame, obviously, that's my biggest goal, is make the Hall of Fame. But until I'm there, I've still got to work super hard every single day, so nothing's going to change whether I'm here or I'm trying to work through my career in the big leagues. I'm going to continue to try to be the best player every single day and work toward being a Hall of Fame-type player. That's definitely the goal."
THE ASYLUM
Griffin: ‘Be a sponge' this spring
Konnor Griffin spoke this morning here at Pirate City about a number of different topics, including his expectations and goals for spring training, as he attempts to make the Pirates' opening day roster as a 19-year-old phenom:
• Griffin said it helps knowing what to expect this spring after experiencing this a year ago and now having a full professional season: "I'm just kind of keeping the same as last year, come in here and be a sponge. Be around the veteran players. It's a great opportunity for my development to be around these guys. Just looking forward to getting better every single day.
• On making the team out of spring training: "I just try to be myself and be in the moment, be present, take it day by day, and just try to grow as a player. We still have a month, month and a half, until games actually start. So got a lot of time to grow and be prepared for whatever comes."
• On being compared to the likes of Alex Rodriguez, Bobby Witt and Mike Trout: "It's super special, and those are great players, but the thing with me ... I haven't played a game at the major-league level. Those guys have had success at the highest level, and I'm still working my way toward that. So until I have the success they're having, I'm gonna continue to just stay who I am and try to work my way up to that. But when I get there, I'm gonna continue to do the same thing and try to grow every day. ... Until I'm in the Hall of Fame, obviously, that's my biggest goal, is make the Hall of Fame. But until I'm there, I've still got to work super hard every single day, so nothing's going to change whether I'm here or I'm trying to work through my career in the big leagues. I'm going to continue to try to be the best player every single day and work toward being a Hall of Fame-type player. That's definitely the goal."
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